While it was the UK’s Jack Keithley on the top step at Lausitzring in the first round, he had to give way to his team-mate Nikodem Wisniewski at the Nürburgring. Wisniewski had qualified his Mercedes-AMG GT in third at the shortened course layout, behind the Corvette of Tim Jarschel and Nestor Garcia’s Mercedes, but passed Garcia into the first turn.
With Garcia’s mirrors filled with Keithley and Erhan Jajovski, the lead duo was able to pull a clear two seconds’ advantage. Wiseniewski opted to take his mandatory pit stop at the end of lap ten, coming out in tenth place but, importantly, in clear air, two seconds ahead of Keithley.
When Jarschel came in two laps later, Wiseniewski had made the fresh tyres count, and passed the pit exit as Jarschel was leaving. Though Jarschel was able to put in the fastest race lap – by just 0.012 seconds – late in the race, he wasn’t able to catch up to the Williams man. Wiseniewski took the chequered flag by just over two seconds.
Coming in behind Jarschel was the second of the Williams drivers, as Keithley backed up his race win last time out with another podium finish. Defending ADAC GT Masters Esports champion Moritz Lohner came in fourth, ahead of Red Bull’s Garcia in fifth.
The race win puts Wiseniewski into the early championship lead after two of the seven rounds, ahead of team-mate Keithley. Hockenheimring is next on the calendar, coming up in mid-September.